DOWNEY - On Jan. 20, a quick-thinking Downey Savings employee dialed 9-1-1 and placed the telephone receiver on the counter to allow police to listen in while a robbery was taking place inside the bank.The employee became suspicious and made the call after observing two men enter the bank wearing dark clothes, beanies, and black gloves.
Police dispatchers listened in as customers were ordered onto the floor and some of the employees were pushed into a bathroom by one of the suspects waving what appeared to be a handgun.
While the second suspect was removing money from the teller drawers, Downey Police Department units arrived at the bank located at 8444 Florence Ave.
"We were there within minutes because the employee called and didn't speak - she just sat the phone down," said Downey Police Department Cpl. Mike Pope. "The dispatchers could hear 'Give me the money' in the background so it was obvious what was going on."
Refusing to surrender to the police, one of the suspects jumped into a vehicle, sped off, lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree near the corner of Downey Avenue and Lexington Road. Exiting the vehicle, the suspect dropped a "realistic-looking plastic replica handgun" onto the street during a short foot pursuit.
The other suspect fled on foot from the bank and jumped a fence into a nearby residential neighborhood where he was discovered hiding in the rear yard in the 9400 block of Lexington Road. A backpack was discovered near him containing $10,000.
"All of the money stolen from the bank was returned," Pope said.
The suspects arrested for bank robbery are a 27-year-old male from Los Angeles and a 14-year-old male claiming to be from Las Vegas. The vehicle used by the suspects had been reported stolen earlier in the city of Los Angeles.
"This was kind of a takeover style robbery," Pope said. "Luckily no one was hurt."
"It was amazing that a 14-year-old would take part in something like this - it just blows me away."
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Published: January 23, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 40